Sunday, August 8th, 2010

"Run To You"

The Hold Steady and Malcolm Middleton cover Bryan Adams

This is a track that I forgot I had in my archives and which elicited a double-take when I was cruising for something to post. I didn’t believe it was tagged correctly or was some sort of hoax, but no – that thick Scottish brogue does indeed belong to former Arab Strap-per Malcolm Middleton, he is indeed trading verses with Craig Finn whilst the rest of The Hold Steady back him up and yes, that is indeed a Bryan Adams tune they’re tackling.

It was recorded in May of 2009 for the BBC Radio 1 and it was a Hold Steady session and interview with Colin Murray and the necessary background for how and why the Brooklyn bar rockers and Glaswegian moper got together in the first place is well-covered at Lip Service Librarian and MP3s of the whole interview and session – which also includes a Zep cover – can be found at The Hold Steady Taped Show Archive.

The Hold Steady are spending 2010 promoting their latest record Heaven Is Whenever. Malcolm Middleton’s last solo record Waxing Gibbous came out last Summer. The first two Arab Strap albums The Week Never Starts Round Here and Philophobia are being reissued on August 17, each with a bonus disc of BBC session material. Bryan Adams is spending more time as a photographer than musician lately and Canadian music is all the better for it.